PHENOPlant will strengthen and extend VBCF’s present HT plant phenotyping capabilities and the repertoire of sensors. The new platform will be designed for mid-size crop plants as well as Arabidopsis and will be fully integrated into a state-of-the-art walk-in phytotron providing highly homogeneous plant growth conditions. Furthermore, the platform will allow precise environmental simulations across different climate zones as well as controlled plant stress experiments.

Within the planned infrastructure, plants will be transported on conveyor belts from the growth area to the imaging cabinets equipped with high-tech sensors. Apart from 3D RGB imaging, morphometric parameters, and colour classifications derived from top- and side-view RGB imaging, the infrastructure will deliver data on PAM chlorophyll fluorescence which is used for monitoring abiotic and biotic stresses that affect photosynthetic mechanisms (e.g. drought-, heat-, and light stress, nutrient deficiencies, heavy metal toxicities, fungal infections etc.). Hyperspectral imaging (VNIR and SVIR) will provide additional complex data on crop condition and health.

PHENOPlant will pave the way for novel basic, applied and translational approaches for the Austrian plant science landscape within the APPN.at and beyond!